Automated SMS marketing

If you’ve added SMS marketing (aka bulk texting) to your marketing strategy, you’ve likely done a lot of prep work already. You’ve weighed the pros and cons of texting vs. emailing your customers, you’ve identified the benefits, and you’re ready to send out that first mass text blast. Congrats! But, before you take the plunge and fire off your first round of messages, make sure you’re not doing one of these easily avoidable “don’ts” and alienating your customers before you have the chance to hook them. So when rolling out SMS marketing, make sure you don’t… 1. Send messages after hours: While this is a common courtesy (you want to keep your customers happy, after all), it’s also a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA.) If you haven’t familiarized yourself with the TCPA, it’s a good idea to do that before you send your first message so you stay in compliance and don’t end up with some hefty fines. Under the TCPA, businesses may only call or send text messages to subscribers between 8 A.M. and 9 P.M. in their timezone in the United States. You might have subscribers from all over the country, so factoring that into your automation will be key. If you have an international audience, make sure you are compliant with those countries as well. 2. Make people opt out instead of opt in: In order to text customers, you need to receive their consent (another TCPA stipulation). This consent can come in a few ways. Texting a keyword, filling out an online or paper form, or checking a box on your website are all ways to obtain consent. Just remember, they have to opt in not opt out so this box can’t be pre-checked. 3. Only offer a one-way street: This isn’t a TCPA compliance requirement but a recommended best practice. By making your SMS marketing a two-way communication, you can facilitate customer feedback. This can strengthen your consumer-brand relationship and can lead to better brand sentiment and customer retention. By having an easily accessible and responsive channel for feedback, you can foster more customer loyalty. The catch? This can take more time and energy, so don’t encourage two-way communication if you don’t have the bandwidth to respond promptly and thoughtfully. 4. Write the next great American novel: Keep it simple! You might write lengthy texts to friends and family, but text messages are meant to be a short-form marketing communication tool. Don’t forget that while people have opted in to receive your messages, depending on their phone plan there might be messaging rate associated with receiving your texts. The last thing you want is an angry customer contacting you because you racked up their phone bill. By keeping them short and the number of messages low, people will be less likely to feel like you are spamming them. However, you don’t want to cut corners and use a bunch of shorthand or emojis. If you absolutely have to, keep the acronyms to a minimum and only use well-known ones. Writing effective copy for text messaging is hard! But, as Shakespeare said, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” And speaking of those messaging rates… 5. Leave off the disclaimer Never assume your customers are aware of fees. Even if those fees are coming from their own phone plan. Tack on a disclaimer to the opt-in message that clearly states standard message and data rates may apply to the text messages they’ll receive from you. This will help you avoid any backlash down the road, and it shows you’re conscientious of your customer’s needs. 6. Forget your call to action As we mentioned earlier, you want to keep your messages short and to the point. And the best way to make your short copy as effective as possible? A call to action. The five Ws will be your friend here: Who, what, where, when, and why. Couple it with a “how,” and you have yourself a great call to action. Let the recipient know why you’re messaging them: You’re having a sale, and you’re offering them a discount code. Great start. Then, make sure to add on how they can redeem that code (or how they can receive it if it’s not in the initial message.) 7. Make it difficult to stop receiving messages: Of course, the last thing you want is for people to unsubscribe, but it will happen. The best thing you can do? Make it easy for people to do so. In their initial opt-in message, tell them how they can unsubscribe (usually by texting STOP or another keyword) and remind them often when you’re sending out your blasts. By making unsubscribing easy, your customers won’t feel like you’ve locked them into something. 8. Forget to introduce yourself You’re likely not the only brand someone receives messages from on any given day. By clarifying who you are upfront, your texts will be better received and feel more engaging to the recipient. And don’t just say who you are in the initial text! Make sure you remind them every time you send a message. Don’t assume your customers have saved your number to their contacts. This will also make sure your messages don’t get mistaken for spam they didn’t sign up for. 9. Over-communicate Play it cool. The sweet spot for how many messages you send and how frequently you send them will vary by your customer demographics and industry. However, regardless of industry, it’s easy to over-communicate with your customers. It may take some trial and error to find the right cadence, so be sure to listen to customer feedback. If a few people reach out saying you’re sending too many messages, chances are they’re not the only ones who think that. 

Whether you’re just starting a business or have been in the game for years, you know how important marketing is. You also know that not all marketing is created equal, and some tactics are more effective than others. Times change, and with new technologies always emerging, keeping up with your customers can be hard. While email campaigns have been an effective tool in the past, depending on your customer base, there may be more effective ways to meet them where they are. One of those ways? Automated text messages.  Now, we don’t want to discredit email marketing entirely. There are still some great benefits, and it can be an effective part of a holistic marketing strategy. But chances are, if you are only emailing your customers and you aren’t texting them, you could be missing out on leads.  Bulk texting, whether done manually or automated, may feel daunting. But there are some serious benefits to easing off your email campaigns and switching to SMS messaging.  9 Reasons Why Automated Text Messaging Is Better Than Email 1. Immediacy: Text messages are like getting a love letter from your crush, while emails are like getting a chain letter from your grandma. Harsh but true. 46% of American smartphone users think they spend about 4-5 hours on their smartphones. The odds are good that their phones are already in their hands, so why not send them a message their more likely to see right away? 2. Personalization: Emails can be personalized, sure. But texting in and of itself feels more personalized. Something about getting a mass email blast feels colder than a text. By personalizing your automated text blasts, you can send people the offers and information they really want. And it will be right at their fingertips. Let’s face it, text messages feel like getting a hand-written note, while emails feel like getting a mass-produced brochure.  3. Interactivity: When it comes to interactivity, text messages are to a game of ping pong, as emails are to a game of solitaire. It’s far easier to have interactions (whether automated or not) with texts than with emails. Surveys feel more interactive, and appointment confirmations feel more like calling the office than checking a box. 4. Convenience: Since about 98% of Americans across all generations have a smartphone, texting just makes sense. There is a good reason why it is such a popular form of communication. Forbes estimates that 23 billion text messages are sent worldwide on a daily basis. They are easy to send, receive, and answer and take far less effort than email. Text messages are like having a personal assistant in your pocket, while emails are like having a personal assistant stuck at a desk. Which do you prefer? 5. Attention-grabbing: If emails are a scheduled conference call, then text messages are a surprise party. Marketing is all about grabbing attention. Think about how many bulk emails you receive daily and have been sent daily for the last decade or so. You’re likely desensitized to them, and if you’re desensitized to them, you can bet your customers are too. 6. Opt-in: Text marketing makes customers feel like they have more agency over what marketing messages they are receiving. How many emails do you get from brands and businesses daily that you don’t remember ever signing up for? If you opt into one type of email list, you’re likely added to more distribution lists at that company that you didn’t opt in to. Customers have to opt-in to receive text messages, which means they are more likely to be interested in hearing from you. 7. Cost-effective: Who doesn’t want to save money? Especially on their marketing? The advantages of text messaging are similar to those of grocery store discounts, while the disadvantages of email marketing campaigns are similar to paying full price for a fancy meal. Per message, bulk texts will likely cost you less in time and energy, as well as monetarily, than email campaigns. Of course, this depends on what services you use. 8. Time-sensitive: How many unread emails do you have in your inbox? Okay, inbox zero; how many of those have you actually read? Exactly. 95% of texts are opened within three minutes of receipt, while 83% of emails are opened within 48 hours (and the remaining 17% take longer than that.)  Text messages are like a reminder to take out the trash before the garbage truck comes, while emails are like a reminder to take out the trash…next week. 9. Saturation: Compared to other marketing channels, SMS marketing is still fairly low-saturated. This means you are competing with fewer businesses for the attention of your customers on that channel. Instead of drowning in a spam folder with hundreds of expired email campaigns, you could be a part of a much smaller, more curated handful of promotional texts a person receives every day.

SMS (short message service) marketing can be hard to avoid nowadays. And that’s for a good reason: It’s an effective tool that lends itself to a holistic marketing strategy. Adding another layer to your marketing campaign might seem daunting. You’re already on social media, and you already send email blasts. You have paid ads and a sleek website. Do you really need something else on top of that, automated or not? Will your business even benefit from it? Do you have time for it? The short answer to those questions is yes.The long answer to those questions is 100% yes. Especially if you opt for automated SMS marketing instead of doing it manually, it offers numerous benefits, including saving you and your team a lot of time while still offering a great experience. A refresher on what SMS marketing is: SMS marketing can be done manually or automatically. It’s a text message that is sent in response to a specific trigger or action, usually automatically. These messages can be used for various purposes, like confirming a purchase, providing updates on an order, or reminding a customer of an upcoming appointment. They’re often used by businesses to improve customer service, increase efficiency, and streamline communication. It may seem like SMS marketing is only beneficial to certain industries. However, many people benefit from SMS marketing. It’s a versatile tool that can fit into your marketing strategy with ease. 6 Business Types That Benefit from SMS Marketing 1. Travel Industry: Travel alerts, flight updates, deals. All of these can be communicated through automated bulk texting. Automated text messaging can be used to improve customer service, increase sales, and streamline communication with clients and customers. 2. Healthcare providers: By using automated text messaging, health professionals can remind patients of appointments, send test results, and provide health-related information. It is a quick and easy way to keep patients up to date, even if they are away from their computer or can’t answer a phone call. 3. Educational institutions: Schools have a lot of information they need to communicate on a regular basis to students, parents, and even teachers. Students and parents can be notified of school closures, upcoming events, and other important information through automated text messages sent by schools. And what teacher wouldn’t love to wake up to a snow day text? 4. Non-profits: Non-profits can easily benefit from adding bulk texting to their marketing strategies. Fundraising campaigns and upcoming events can be communicated to donors with automated text messages. 5. Government agencies: Email campaigns and local signage aren’t always the best way to convey information to the public. Public alerts and notifications can be sent via automated text messaging, including weather warnings, and emergency notifications. 6. E-commerce: Of course, one of the earliest adopters of bulk texting was e-commerce, which is still a great marketing tool. Online retailers can use automated text messages to confirm orders, inform customers about shipping statuses, and alert them to special offers. Overall, automated text messaging can be a valuable tool for anyone who needs to communicate with a large group of people quickly and efficiently. Add automated bulk texting to your marketing strategy and reach your customers like a BOSS.